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Auditor economic incentives and going-concern opinions in a limited litigious Continental European business environment: empirical evidence from Belgium

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  • Ann Vanstraelen

Abstract

Theory predicts that auditor reporting behaviour may be influenced by the perceived consequences of disclosing going-concern uncertainty in the audit report (DeAngelo 1981, Watts and Zimmerman 1986). Krishnan and Krishnan (1996) and Louwers (1998) have addressed this issue empirically in a US context. The results of Krishnan and Krishnan (1996) suggested that one of the important factors in the auditor's opinion decision is the risk of litigation. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between auditor economic incentives and the propensity to issue going-concern opinions in a limited litigious business environment, Belgium. In spite of the low risk of litigation and the fact that most Belgian companies are privately held, various regulations have been put into effect to safeguard audit quality in Belgium. However, the results suggest that the auditor's going-concern opinion decision in Belgium is associated with factors relating to the perceived consequences of disclosing a going-concern opinion. Specifically, the results suggest that auditors in Belgium are significantly less likely to issue going-concern opinions to clients that pay higher audit fees, and when the audit firm has lost a relatively high proportion of its clients in the preceding year. The auditor's going-concern opinion does not appear to be significantly influenced by the length of the auditor-client relationship, year of the auditor engagement period, and auditor type. The results of this study are to some extent different from the study by Louwers (1998), in which none of the incentive variables related to the auditor's loss function was significant.

Suggested Citation

  • Ann Vanstraelen, 2002. "Auditor economic incentives and going-concern opinions in a limited litigious Continental European business environment: empirical evidence from Belgium," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 171-186.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:32:y:2002:i:3:p:171-186
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2002.9728966
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    1. Gietzmann, M. B. & Quick, R., 1998. "Capping auditor liability: The German experience," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 81-103, January.
    2. DeAngelo, Linda Elizabeth, 1981. "Auditor size and audit quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 183-199, December.
    3. DeAngelo, Linda Elizabeth, 1981. "Auditor independence, `low balling', and disclosure regulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 113-127, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nora Muñoz-Izquierdo & María-del-Mar Camacho-Miñano & María-Jesús Segovia-Vargas & David Pascual-Ezama, 2019. "Is the External Audit Report Useful for Bankruptcy Prediction? Evidence Using Artificial Intelligence," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Waymond Rodgers & Andrés Guiral & José Gonzalo, 2009. "Different Pathways that Suggest Whether Auditors’ Going Concern Opinions are Ethically Based," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 347-361, May.
    3. Dody Hapsoro & Tiara Rani Santoso, 2018. "Does Audit Quality Mediate the Effect of Auditor Tenure, Abnormal Audit Fee and Auditor's Reputation on Giving Going Concern Opinion?," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(1), pages 143-152.
    4. Owusu-Ansah, Stephen & Leventis, Stergios & Caramanis, Constantinos, 2010. "The pricing of statutory audit services in Greece," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 139-152.
    5. Charlie Weir & David Laing, 2003. "Ownership structure, board composition and the market for corporate control in the UK: an empirical analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(16), pages 1747-1759.
    6. Andrés Guiral & Waymond Rodgers & Emiliano Ruiz & José Gonzalo, 2010. "Ethical Dilemmas in Auditing: Dishonesty or Unintentional Bias?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(1), pages 151-166, February.
    7. Katsuhiko Muramiya & Tomomi Takada, 2010. "Auditor Conservatism, Abnormal Accruals, and Going Concern Opinions," Discussion Papers 2010-64, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    8. Emiliano Ruiz Barbadillo & Nieves Gómez Aguilar & Nieves Carrera Pena, 2006. "Evidencia empírica sobre el efecto de la duración del contrato en la calidad de la auditoría: análisis de las medidas de retención y rotación obligatoria de auditores," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 30(2), pages 283-316, May.
    9. García Blandón, Josep & Argilés Bosch, Josep Maria, 2013. "Audit firm tenure and qualified opinions: New evidence from Spain," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 118-125.
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/1073 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Garcia-Blandon, Josep & Argiles, Josep Ma, 2015. "Audit firm tenure and independence: A comprehensive investigation of audit qualifications in Spain," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 82-93.
    12. Stuart, Iris & Shin, Yong-Chul & Cram, Donald P. & Karan, Vijay, 2013. "Review of choice-based, matched, and other stratified sample studies in auditing research," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 88-113.
    13. Waymond Rodgers & Andrés Guiral & José A. Gonzalo, 2019. "Trusting/Distrusting Auditors’ Opinions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, March.

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